THE 

PURPOSE 

OF 

MEDICAL 

MISSIONS 


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Jlashville  ^ 

^ Pju  XJennessee 

EDUCATIONAL  h 

Hm  department 

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This  leaflet  is  condensed  from  an  article 
by  Dr.  W.  T.  Reid,  Songdo,  Korea,  which 
appeared  in  The  Korean  Magazine,  March, 
1919.  Introduction  and  Scripture  selec- 
tions by  Rev.  S.  H.  Chester,  D.D. 


The 


of  Medical 


Missions 


The  divine  warrant  for  medical  missions 
is  found  in  the  following  passages  from 
the  Gospel  of  Matthew: 

Chapter  IV.  23,  24. — “And  Jesus  went 
about  all  Galilee,  teaching  in  their  syna- 
gogues, and  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the 
Kingdom,  and  healing  all  manner  of  sick- 
ness and  all  manner  of  disease  among  the 
people.  And  His  fame  went  throughout 
all  Syria:  and  they  brought  unto  Him  all 
sick  people  that  were  taken  with  divers 
diseases  and  torments,  and  those  which 
were  possessed  with  devils,  and  those  which 
were  lunatic,  and  those  that  had  the  palsy; 
and  He  healed  them.” 

Chapter  VIII.  5-7,  13. — “And  when 
Jesus  was  entered  into  Capernaum,  there 
came  unto  Him  a centurion,  beseeching 
Him,  and  saying,  Lord,  my  servant  lieth 
at  home  sick  of  the  palsy,  grievously  tor- 
mented. And  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  I 
will  come  and  heal  him.  . . And  Jesus  said 
unto  the  centurion.  Go  thy  way;  and  as 
thou  hast  believed,  so  be  it  done  unto  thee. 
And  his  servant  was  healed  in  the  self- 
same hour.” 

Chapter  IX.  20-22. — “And,  behold,  a 
woman  which  was  diseased  with  an  issue 


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of  blood  twelve  years,  came  behind  Him, 
and  touched  the  hem  of  His  garment.  For 
she  said  within  herself.  If  I may  but  touch 
the  hem  of  His  garment,  I shall  be  whole. 
But  Jesus  turned  Him  about,  and  when 
He  saw  her.  He  said.  Daughter,  be  of 
good  comfort;  thy  faith  hath  made  thee 
whole.  And  the  woman  was  made  whole 
from  that  hour.” 

Chapter  X.  1,  7,  8. — “And  when  He 
had  called  unto  Him  His  twelve  disciples. 
He  gave  them  power  against  unclean 
spirits,  to  cast  them  out,  and  to  heal  all 
manner  of  sickness  and  all  manner  of  dis- 
ease . . . And  as  ye  go,  preach,  saying. 
The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  at  hand.  Heal 
the  sick,  cleanse  the  lepers,  raise  the  dead, 
cast  out  devils:  freely  ye  have  received, 
freely  give.” 

Chapter  XI.  2-5. — Now  when  John  had 
heard  in  the  prison  the  works  of  Christ, 
he  sent  two  of  his  disciples,  and  said  unto 
Him,  Art  thou  He  that  should  come,  or 
do  we  look  for  another?  Jesus  answered 
and  said  unto  them.  Go  and  shew  John 
again  tho.se  things  which  ye  do  hear  and 
.see : the  blind  receive  their  sight,  and  the 
lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the 
deaf  hear,  the  dead  are  raised  up,  and  the 
poor  have  the  Gospel  preached  to  them.” 

Chapter  XX.  30-34. — “And,  behold,  two 
blind  men,  sitting  by  the  wayside,  when 
they  heard  that  Jesus  passed  by,  cried  out, 
saying.  Have  mercy  on  us,  O Lord,  thou 
Son  of  David.  And  the  multitude  rebuked 
them,  because  they  should  hold  their  peace : 
but  they  cried  the  more,  saying.  Have 


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mercy  on  us,  O Lord,  Thou  Son  of  David. 
And  Jesus  stood  still,  and  called  them,  and 
said.  What  will  ye  that  I shall  do  unto 
you?  They  said  unto  Him:  Lord,  that 
our  eyes  may  be  opened.  So  Jesus  had 
compassion  on  them,  and  touched  their 
eyes : and  immediately  their  eyes  received 
sight,  and  they  followed  Him.” 

Many  other  passages  might  be  cited,  but 
these  are  sufficient  to  show  that  the  work 
of  healing  was  from  the  beginning,  and 
in  the  very  nature  of  the  case  must  con- 
tinue to  be,  an  important  element  in  the 
propagation  of  the  Gospel. 

The  purpose  of  medical  missions  is  the 
same  purpose  as  any  kind  of  missions, 
namely  to  make  the  people  know  the  true 
God  whom  to  know  aright  is  eternal  life, 
and  the  effectiveness  of  this  method  of 
procedure  toward  the  common  end  can  be 
measured  by  the  fact  that  it  appeals  to 
those  senses  by  which  men  most  easily  and 
most  thoroughly  learn  new  truths,  that  is, 
sight  and  feeling. 

Faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing 
cometh  by  the  preaching  of  the  Word  of 
God.  This  is  perfectly  true  but  not  till 
we  see  with  the  inward  eye  the  uplifted 
cross,  and  feel  in  our  inmost  soul  the 
tragedy  and  marvel  of  it,  can  we  under- 
stand that  faith  without  love  profiteth 
nothing,  and  that  love  is  made  manifest  by 
works.  It  is  to  make  manifest  to  sight 
and  feeling  the  love  of  God  that  medical 
missions  are  established,  and  with  this  in 
view  they  should  be  cherished  and  operated. 


5 


It  lias  seemed  to  me  that  the  Church  has 
found  it  easier  to  admit  the  usefulness  of 
medical  missions  in  lands  where  it  has  not 
been  able  to  obtain  an  entrance  save  at  the 
point  of  the  lancet  than  it  has  in  the  case 
of  lands  where  this  does  not  hold  good.  I 
think  this  is  true  because  that  while  the 
Church  has  realized  by  experience  the 
power  of  this  method  in  gaining  entrance  to 
closed  and  antagonistic  lands,  it  has  failed 
to  fully  realize  the  power  thus  possessed  for 
gaining  an  entrance  for  the  truth  into 
closed  and  antagonistic  hearts.  Since  the 
latter  is  really  what  we  are  after,  medical 
missions  must  not  be  considered  useful 
only  in  so  far  as  they  can  be  turned  to 
opening  the  path  into  closed  lands,  but 
should  be  regarded  as  a permanent  sine 
qua  non  in  all  missionary  operations  be- 
cause of  its  value  in  unlocking  closed 
hearts  to  the  Gospel  story  and  making 
blind  eyes  see  that  God  is  really  love  by 
the  manifestation  of  His  nature  in  works 
of  mercy  at  the  hands  of  His  servant,  the 
medical  missionary.  I therefore  magnify 
my  office,  for  if  the  feet  might  be  taken 
to  represent  the  preacher,  for  we  read — 
How  beautiful  are  the  feet  of  them  that 
bring  glad  tidings — and  if  the  tongue 
might  be  taken  to  represent  the  teacher, 
with  here  a precept  and  there  a precept — 
then  it  seems  to  me  that  the  medical  work 
might  be  represented  by  the  hands  with 
which  a man  may  lift  up  his  fellow  and 
bind  up  his  wounds,  pouring  in  oil  and 
wine.  \\''e  are  all  members  of  the  body  of 
Christ  and  have  need  one  of  another  and  if 


6 


the  Church  is  to  present  an  unmutilated 
body  of  truth  to  the  heathen  for  their  ac- 
ceptance it  cannot  be  done  without  the 
healing  ministry  any  more  than  it  can  be 
done  without  preaching  and  teaching. 

The  purpose  of  medical  missions  might 
be  considered  in  a threefold  aspect.  First, 
it  is  peculiarly  the  “Labor  of  Love”  by 
which  the  other  forms  of  evangelistic  en- 
deavor can  vindicate  their  doctrine  of 
God’s  love  for  the  whole  man.  Second,  it 
is  the  conserving  power,  in  that  by  guard- 
ing the  health  of  the  other  missionaries  it 
prevents  their  work  being  hindered.  Third, 
it  is  a shelter  of  light  in  dark  places. 

First  as  the  Labor  of  Love,  it  is  the 
good  Samaritan  of  missionary  propaganda 
and  fulfills  in  unique  measure  our  Lord’s 
own  golden  rule  of  doing  unto  others  what 
we  would  that  they  should  do  unto  us.  It 
is  noteworthy  that  in  the  judgment  of  the 
sheep  and  the  goats  the  Judge  names  a 
list  of  deeds  of  kmdness  to  the  body  the 
doing  or  not  doing  of  which  brings  reward 
or  penalty,  saying,  “Inasmuch  as  ye  have 
done  it  unto  the  least  of  these  ye  have 
done  it  unto  me.”  For  this  reason  were 
medical  missions  an  end  in  themselves  sim- 
ply as  a labor  of  love  all  that  has  been 
or  ever  will  be  put  into  them  is  fully  jus- 
tified, nay  more,  the  Church  needs  to  look 
well  to  herself  lest  she  be  condemned  for 
not  putting  more  heart  into  her  medical 
missions  for  “Inasmuch  as  ye  have  not  done 
it  unto  the  least  of  these  ye  have  not  done 
it  unto  me.”  I would  like  to  specially 
emphasize  here  the  responsibility  of  the 


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Church  if  possessing  as  she  does  all  the 
blessings  of  modern  medical  science  she 
fails  to  do  her  duty  by  the  poor  and  sick 
and  suffering  in  her  mission  fields  but  like 
the  priest  and  the  Levite  of  old  passes  by 
on  the  other  side  heedless  of  the  anguish 
it  lies  in  her  power  to  relieve. 

About  the  second  aspect  of  medical  mis- 
sions I need  say  very  little,  because  it  is  a 
self-evident  fact  that  no  missionary  can 
be  an  efficient  worker  if  encumbered  with 
sicknessj  and  since  missionaries  are  very 
carefully  picked  people  and  not  overly 
numerous  or  easy  to  replace,  the  preserving 
of  their  health  and  efficiency  is  a very 
important  function  of  medical  missions. 

As  for  the  third  aspect  of  medical  mis- 
sions as  shedders  of  light  in  dark  places, 
I suppose  it  is  difficult  if  not  impossible 
for  dwellers  in  our  home  lands  to  imagine 
one-half  of  the  misery  and  despair  and 
death  due  to  the  ignorance  of  the  quack 
doctors  and  medicine  men  in  heathen 
lands.  The  deceit  that  is  practiced,  the 
harm  that  is  wrought,  and  the  darkness 
that  results  is  almost  impossible  to  describe. 
It  is  the  function  of  medical  missions  to 
combat  these  quacks  and  medical  men  and 
to  dissipate  the  darkness  and  ignorance 
of  their  theories  and  methods  and  prac- 
tices and  thus  pluck  many  thousands  from 
a premature  grave,  to  say  nothing  of  days 
and  nights  of  anguish  and  fear  prevented. 
The  contrast  cast  by  the  light  of  western 
medicine  over  against  the  darkness  of 
heathen  methods  makes  a powerful  argu- 
ment for  the  causes  medical  missions  are 


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established  to  represent.  That  the  brighter 
the  light,  the  more  evident  the  darkness 
is  an  argument  for  making  our  medical 
missions  the  very  best  of  their  kind  and 
as  a reason  for  discarding  as  a relic  of  the 
past  old  ideals  and  slip-shod  methods  of 
carrying  on  medical  mission  work. 

Cleanliness  is  said  to  be  next  to  godli- 
ness and  no  small  part  of  the  change  and 
cleaning  up  of  Christian  homes  and  the 
contrast  presented  between  their  present 
estate  and  the  filth  and  squalor  and  super- 
stition of  their  heathen  days  is  due  to  the 
teaching  and  example  of  medical  missions. 

By  the  training  of  natives  in  medical 
knowledge  both  as  doctors  and  nurses  and 
selecting  for  this  training  Christian  youth 
the  work  of  medical  missions  multiplies 
itself  and  sheds  abroad  more  and  more  the 
light  it  was  established  to  send  forth  and 
in  this  as  in  its  other  functions  it  is  well 
worth  the  heartiest  support  of  the  Church 
it  represents. 

But  over  and  above  these  benefits  the 
jl  work  of  medical  missions  does  produce  fruit 
] in  many  brands  plucked  from  the  burning 
! and  many  souls  brought  from  death  unto 

'I  life,  from  darkness  to  light  and  from 

' ignorance  to  the  knowledge  of  God  and 
that  which  is  thus  blessed  and  used  of 
ij  God  in  the  salvation  of  souls  is  worth  all 
that  the  Church  can  put  into  it  and  far 
more  than  the  Church  has  been  putting  into 
it  in  the  past. 


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For  Additional  Literature 


on 

Medical  Missions 

Write  to  the 

Educational  Department 
Executive  Committee  of  Foreign  Missions 

Box  330 

Nashville,  Tennessee 


Williams — Nashville 
10-20-28 — IM 


